Family of Ellenville

221 Canal Street
Ellenville, NY   12428
Email: foeh@familyofwoodstockinc.org
(845) 647-2443

Click here to support Family of Ellenville

Team Leader: Salvador Altamirano-Segura
Program Director:  Tiffany Santiago
Assistant Program Director: Janet Nuñez

Program Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
Available through hotline 24 hours in emergencies

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS:   Crisis intervention: emergency short-term counseling; access to Adult, Adolescent, and Domestic Violence Case Management, Child Care, and Emergency Housing Services. The catchment for this office is the entire southwestern quadrant of the county.

ANCILLARY SERVICES:   Client advocacy; food closet; free clothing store; housewares closet for kitchen needs; loan closet for medical needs (i.e. wheelchairs, crutches, walkers—all when available); linen and personal care items closet; free public telephone for local business calls and long distance in emergencies: access to computers and internet; employment and rental listings; and use of meeting space for community groups and other agencies’ programming. Seasonal programs include holiday meals and toy drives, outerwear distribution, basic school supplies. Hot drinks and food snacks are available every day during open hours. Books for children and adults are available for reading in or taking home. Extensive bulletin board and pamphlet areas with information on all local and many countywide agencies, programs and special events. Supervision is provided for community service, work experience, work-study and internships, and for court-mandated community service. Motel placements for individuals and families unable to be serviced by Family’s shelters are arranged.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Family of Ellenville experienced a shift in leadership, Vivian Roman resigned her position as Director due to health issues, and in her place Tiffany Santiago was hired. Tiffany is originally from Ellenville and had worked in the past for Family’s DV non-residential program. In the time that she was not with Family she attained a Master’s Degree in social work. She brings to the program community connections, knowledge, and experience of the community needs. She is also bilingual which is extremely helpful to a wide range of the area’s population.

As part of an agency-wide effort, Ellenville staff have been trained in administering Narcan and will train on its use and distribute Narcan, no questions asked, to individuals seeking it in the Ellenville community. As an ongoing effort to educate and assist our community with various challenges with the local Opioid Epidemic, FOE has partnered with Ellenville Regional Hospital to provide Narcan Training and education; and also is actively working on a collaboration with them, the Ellenville Police Department, Catholic Charities and other community agencies to address the difficulties that a segment of the population faces concerning homelessness, addiction & mental health issues.

One of the approaches that our Federal and State Governments are using to help with the homeless situation is the provision of Emergency Housing Vouchers. Some of those vouchers were distributed by HCR, a State Housing Agency, to housing authorities in our County. Only the Ellenville Housing Authority received them even though both Kingston and Saugerties have housing authorities. Staff of Family of Ellenville and ACMS are assisting the Housing Authority to distribute the 15 vouchers they received to homeless families. In addition, staff of the ACMS program have been helping individuals sign up for Emergency Housing Vouchers available through the Ulster County CoC.

Hudson Valley Legal Services is providing virtual services by appointment to address the legal needs of our clients.

FOE continues to provide outreach and care coordination to Ellenville area patients of the Health Home program. While most of these patients are allocated to the Institute for Family Health for care coordination, they are very often referred to FOE for services that fall into the category of social determinants of health, such as food, clothing and shelter, which services would normally be provided by the Care Coordinating Agency. 

Family of Ellenville relies heavily on the help of volunteers. The program accommodates individuals that require or want community service (CS) hours. During 2021 the program assisted court mandated individuals with their CS requirements, individuals from local agencies that deal with drug and alcohol addiction as a part of their program of recovery, people building a resume after returning from prison, and youth sent by the Juvenile Community Accountability Board to accomplish restorative justice projects as part of Family’s One80 program. Examples of the work provided by these volunteers include: answering the hotline; maintaining informational resources; stocking the food pantry; breaking down and recycling the extensive amount of cardboard generated as well as collecting donated overripe produce for the compost containers. Additional tasks include: organizing the free clothing store; providing building and grounds repairs and maintenance; researching, downloading, and posting job opportunities; and assisting with health fairs and fundraising events. In the past year, FOE provided work and learning opportunities to the following: 3 individuals fulfilling court mandated community service, and 2 college students in field placement semesters.

In most years, FOE participates in publicity, community events, and fundraising events throughout the year, including health fairs, street/park and farm fairs, and Ellenville Schools’ open house events. FOE hosts 1 large penny social event yearly which provide outreach and entertainment for low and middle income residents. FOE partnered with the Ellenville Police Department for their annual toy drive which provided over 300 children with gifts. This year the penny social did not occur due to safety issues related to the pandemic.

FOE is an informal meeting place for socializing. The program provides snacks and coffee and computer access, as well as books, magazines, and coupons. Occasionally it offers stews or soups in crock pots, and at times receives leftover cooked food to share from Shiloh Baptist Soup Kitchen (to whom we frequently deliver Feeding America donations) or other events. There are generally groups of seniors or mixed aged groups and/or families with young children spending time relaxing and socializing and sharing information with each other, often while charging their electronic equipment in the building, and middle and high school students in groups schedule a stop at FOE after school for snacks.

Due to the current pandemic we have implemented all safety guidelines in our building as per the State to ensure the community continues to receive assistance. Social distancing, mask wearing requirements while in the facility, are just some of the procedures that we adopted to maintain a safe and healthy environment for clients and staff. Also clients are encourage to call ahead of time with their pantry needs whenever possible as a measure to reduce the time they have to spend in the building as we can have the goods ready for pick up when they come.